Vegetable Garden Design

Get ideas for creating an edible garden that will produce fresh vegetables many months of the year

Growing your own food can be a very rewarding experience. When well planned, a home vegetable garden can produce fresh healthy food many months of the year. Whether you are looking to start simple with some lettuce and tomatoes for salads or you want a gourmet garden that produces artichokes and asparagus, you’ll find that growing vegetables is not that hard.

Vegetables are commonly grown one of two ways—either in the ground or in raised beds. Many home gardeners opt for raised beds because you can control soil quality, pests have a harder time reaching the crops, and harvesting is a breeze. Some vegetable plants are grown from seed while others are grown from young plants that have already sprouted, find the method that works best for you.

Don’t forget that a vegetable garden can also be beautiful. Think about how you arrange your plants and make sure that your patterns or rows are laid out in a pleasing way. Another option is to incorporate ornamental plants, such as colorful blooming flowers, alongside your edibles. This practice is not only visually attractive, but it will encourage more pollinators to visit your garden, thus producing a higher yield of vegetables.

Use these articles and photos to help you plan your own vegetable garden. You’ll find information on raised beds, arbors and trellises, seed starting and much more.